From a dynamic fusion of action to a blend of romance, drama, and horror, these films will likely enthrall audiences with their grand storytelling and cultural landmarks in world cinema.

This article brings 11 iconic films compiled by BBC and reflects on some of the engaging and captivating features of these films, which are set to be released in September.

Apollo 13: Survival

A Netflix documentary tells the story of the incredible return of three astronauts to Earth after an oxygen tank exploded on NASA's Apollo 13 moon rocket in April 1970. 

The film uses a combination of archive audio, film footage, and photography, blended with later interviews of key figures and some new footage to create a gripping, edge-of-the-cockpit reconstruction of the eventful mission".

Released on 5 September on Netflix internationally

Universal Pictures

Speak No Evil

Speak No Evil is a remake of a Danish film from 2022. Harper's Bazaar describe it as a "grueling (but in a good way), lean and mean genre outing [that] will drive you into madness". Could the new version be even nastier?

Released from 12 September in the UK and 13 September internationally

Unifrance

The Goldman Case

This is a golden age of French courtroom dramas, with Anatomy of A Fall and Saint Omer winning awards all around the world. The latest example is based on the true story of Pierre Goldman, a far-left militant who was convicted of a double murder in 1974. 

Released on 20 September in the UK and Ireland

Universal Pictures

The Wild Robot

Adapted from the children's books by Peter Brown, The Wild Robot tells the tale of Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o), a robot who is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island - or uninhabited by humans, anyway. 

Released on 27 September in the US, Canada and Finland, and on 18 October in the UK and Ireland

Netflix

His Three Daughters

His Three Daughters is "a ruthless, humane and darkly funny story... that grapples with the ugliness of grief and comes out with as happy an ending as a shattering death might bring," says Katy Puchko in Mashable. "It's chaotic, charismatic, and ultimately cathartic. Don't miss it."

Released on 6 September in the US, and on 20 September on Netflix internationally

Mubi

The Substance

It is a snazzy Hollywood satire spliced with a gleefully icky body-horror movie. 

Written, produced, and directed by Coralie Fargeat, The Substance is a "genuinely disgusting, but wildly entertaining and even thoughtful... horror movie," says Phil de Semlyen in Time Out. "The final reel, in particular, is here for anyone who felt that The Fly's skin-crawlingly gory climax was a little restrained."

Released on 19 September in Australia and 20 September in the UK and US

Sky UK Ltd

Lee

Lee Miller was celebrated as a fashion model and photographer in New York, a muse and collaborator of Picasso and Man Ray in Paris and a war photographer during World War Two, so it's no wonder that when her son wrote Miller's biography, he used a plural in the title, The Lives of Lee Miller. Now that biography has been turned into a biopic, produced by its Miller-lookalike star, Kate Winslet. 

Released on 13 September in the UK and Ireland, and on 27 September in the US, Norway and Sweden

Apple TV

Wolfs

A must-see for fans of middle-aged male handsomeness, Wolfs is a vehicle for George Clooney and Brad Pitt, who previously teamed up in Ocean's Eleven and its sequels. In their new comedy thriller, Clooney plays a super-cool mercenary who specialises in cleaning up grisly crime scenes before the authorities get wind of them. 

Wolfs is written and directed by Jon Watts, who made the Tom Holland Spider-Man films, and he is preparing a sequel already. 

Released on 20 September in the US, the UK, Ireland, Canada and Spain, and on 27 September on AppleTV+

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Tim Burton’s fantasy horror-comedy, with Michael Keaton as the anarchic supernatural exorcist Beetlejuice, was a big hit in the 1980s. Now, Burton returns with a sequel and the promise (or threat) of a franchise. Keaton is back as the titular character and Winona Ryder, once the tricky teenager, has a difficult daughter of her own, played by Jenna Ortega.

Released from 6 September internationally

Lionsgate Films

Megalopolis

Megalopolis is a 2024 American epic science fiction drama film written, directed, and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. Set in an imagined modern United States, it follows Cesar Catilina (Driver), a visionary architect, as he clashes with the corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Esposito) in determining how to rebuild the metropolis of New Rome after a devastating disaster. The film references the characters involved in the Catilinarian conspiracy of 63 BC, including Catiline and Cicero, in addition to Caesar.

Released on 27 September in the US, the UK, Canada, Ireland, Spain and Sweden

Jon Pack

The Front Room

Adapted from a short story by Susan Hill (The Woman in Black), The Front Room stars Brandy Norwood as a pregnant woman who hopes that she and her husband (Andrew Burnap) will inherit some money from his aged and infirm stepmother (Kathryn Hunter). They invite the old woman to live with them, and they try to ignore the small fact that their new houseguest is a racist religious fanatic. But the wicked stepmother may be even more dangerous and sinister than that suggests...

Released on 6 September in the US and Canada, 20 September in Spain and 25 October in the UK